The West Betrays the Kurds

The Western media have ignored the fate of the Kurds, the people who defeated ISIS for us.

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson tweeted, "Turkey is right to want to keep its borders secure". The West gave the Turks a green light to massacre the Kurds.

The Kurds today, like the Czechs in 1938, were sacrificed in vain. The West has betrayed the Kurds three times in the last three years. They were our ideal allies. They opened their cities, such as Erbil, to tens of thousands of Iraqi Christians expelled by ISIS from Mosul. Iraqi Kurdistan is today the only place in the Middle East, along with the State of Israel, that harbors and protects all religions and minorities.

A new "Munich Syndrome" is now looming over the West. The Kurds, if they did not deserve a state, were at least worthy of our protection, especially after helping us to stop those who slit our throats on the boulevards of Paris.

The Kurds have a proverb: "We have no friends but the mountains". In Afrin, however, even the mountains could not protect them from the Turkish warplanes and the Islamist militias allied with Ankara. Although the videos of terrifying executions are certainly not new in the tragic war of Syria, in this instance the video was shot by a terror group operating under the command of a NATO country, Turkey.

The video shows members of Syrian militias abusing the corpse of Amina Omar, a female Kurdish fighter who was also known as "Barin Kobani". She was killed defending Afrin, a city-canton in Syria attacked by the Turkish army of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In the video, Omar, who belonged to the female unit of Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), is called "female pig" and a soldier steps on her breast. The desecration of her corpse ended up symbolizing not only the ferocity of the Kurds' enemies, but also the sense of a huge, unbearable moral and political betrayal suffered by the Kurds at the hands of their Western allies.

"Shame: the West is turning a blind eye to the fate of the Kurds" wrote Ivan Rioufol in France's Le Figaro. "They fought alongside us in the war against ISIS. Erdogan labels as 'terrorist' this small people arming women, who have their hair in the wind and leave religion in the private sphere".

The Western media have ignored the fate of the Kurds, the people who defeated ISIS for us.

"My sister, Barin, had fought alongside the coalition in Raqqa against the Islamic State and in many other places too", Omar's brother told The Times from the city of Kobane. "How can there be justice or trust between allies when the coalition put their own benefit above morality and allowed Turkey to attack us, and with Nato weapons?"

Pictured: Women fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) near the town of Kobane, Syria, on June 20, 2015. (Photo by Ahmet Sik/Getty Images)

There has been a "deafening silence" from most Western leaders about the Kurds suffering an illegal Turkish invasion, said Sandeep Gopalan, a law professor at Deakin University in Melbourne. The European chancelleries all abandoned the Kurds to their fate.

Just think, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson tweeted, "Turkey is right to want to keep its borders secure". The West gave the Turks a green light to massacre the Kurds.

"the Turkish attack on Afrin was entirely unprovoked. In fact, Afrin was so peaceful for most of the Syrian war that it became a safe haven for tens of thousands of refugees — some of whom are now refugees for a second time. In the cantons they controlled, the Kurdish-led forces had established an oasis, unique in Syria, of local self-government, women's rights, and secular rule".

The battle of Afrin was a horrendous defeat for the Kurds in Syria, one with appalling consequences. At least 820 Kurdish fighters were killed in action. Many other deaths have yet to be confirmed. By comparison, 660 Kurds were killed fighting under the insignia of Syrian democratic forces, supported by the United States, in the battle to free Raqqa, the de facto Syrian capital of the ISIS Caliphate.

"Two days before ceding the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany in Munich in September 1938, British prime minister Neville Chamberlain dismissed the issue as 'a quarrel in a faraway country between people of whom we know nothing'. Pretty much the same can be said of the attitude of the West towards Turkey's attack on the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in northwestern Syria".

In the early hours of Sept. 30, 1938, Great Britain, France and Italy allowed the Nazis to annex the Sudetenland, a region of Czechoslovakia. The Czechoslovakian government opposed and resisted, but its Western allies, determined to avoid war "at all costs", were willing to negotiate with Adolf Hitler. The Munich Agreement, however, did not bring peace to Europe; it brought war.

Just as the Czechs were sacrificed in vain, the West has betrayed the Kurds three times in the last three years. The first time in Kobane, the besieged Kurdish city at the border with Turkey, where, in a battle that only "revealed the West's helplessness in the face of radical jihad", the inhabitants fought to escape a certain death under ISIS. After Kobane, the Kurds were abandoned during their referendum for independence from Iraq last September. Now they have been betrayed in Afrin, the Syrian canton where many minorities of the Syrian war took refuge.

When, at the end of 2014, Westerners decided to intervene directly to get rid of the ISIS Caliphate, they encountered an obvious problem. How could the West defeat the Islamists as we are no longer willing to risk our troops and lives on the ground? Through the Kurds. It was the Kurdish forces who gave first aid to those Yazidis fleeing the genocide waged against them by ISIS. Thousands of Yazidis ended up in mass graves or captured and put into sexual slavery. That is when Germany started to send weapons to the Kurds. Now the Yazidis in Afrin are suffering yet a new wave of persecution by the Turkish allies.

"The tragedy that the Kurds are experiencing is the sign of an unprecedented weakening of the West. Is it the equivalent of the battle of Adrianople, which precedes the fall of Rome? I hope not. But the resignation has been such a great disgrace... one of those seemingly aberrant micro-events that signal a change in the world. This is not the first time that the West has disappointed its allies or sister nations. It was the case during the rise of Nazism. Then, with the abandonment of half of Europe to communism".

The Kurds were our ideal allies. They opened their cities, such as Erbil, to tens of thousands of Iraqi Christians expelled by ISIS from Mosul. Iraqi Kurdistan is today the only place in the Middle East, along with the State of Israel, that harbors and protects all religions and minorities. According to the former European parliamentarian Paulo Casaca, the Kurdish regional government has shown the utmost respect for all minorities that have been widely persecuted in other areas of Iraq.

An appeal signed by the French intellectuals Pascal Bruckner, Bernard Kouchner and Stephane Breton states:

"Abandoning them would be an unforgivable moral error. The Kurds of Syria defeated the Islamists who have caused the worst attacks in our history. The Turkish-Islamist atrocities in Afrin do not promise anything good. When young Kurdish fighters with admirable courage are captured by the jihadists, they are tortured, gutted and cut into pieces. This barbarism is unsustainable. The Kurds are also our only allies in the region and have demonstrated their effectiveness in the field. If we abandon them, there will be no one to help us contain new terrorist explosions against us. Finally, the Kurds of Syria are building a democratic society that respects ethnic and confessional pluralism and equality between men and women. This will have a profound influence in a region torn apart by tyranny".

A new "Munich Syndrome" is now looming over the West. The Kurds, if they did not deserve a state, were at least worthy of our protection, especially after helping us to stop those who slit our throats on the boulevards of Paris.

Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and author.

Comment on this item

41 Reader Comments

Gordeen Donovan • Jul 17, 2018 at 12:11

I know that these brave Kurdish people fought against an aggression because they believed they would rather die than live in a world where such evil is permitted and often supported by people who are incapable of caring about the values worth living and dying for. I take encouragement from many of the comments I read on the stories published by Gatestone Institute which are thoughtful and caring in a world where so much is not.

How the Kurdish people should take responsibility for what they've done in the past is difficult to know as it is for all nations who have at one time or another been guilty of heinous acts. I look at present behaviors to determine (usually) whether or not important changes have occurred. People and nations show visible signs of true change if we look for those signs and stop ignoring what is in front of us.

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marilyn raskin • May 21, 2018 at 16:02

I am terribly ashamed of my country and for that matter all of the West, excluding Israel, which would not throw allies to those who would murder them. In the Jewish bible, G-d tells Joshua to go "from strength to strength"Never give the dark forces of the world the chance to divide people's of peace. The dark powers, of Islamic Jihadis, only understand that goodness is translates to weakness. The West has demonstated this time after time with the same result. Appeasement is equivalent to allowing virulent diseases to spread, turning a blind eye until they realize that killing it sooner would have saved more lives. Einstein's quote about doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome makes one an idiot. That is what the West has become, a band of idiots. Hopefully, they will wake up and hopefully, not too late.

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Sandro Miranda • May 10, 2018 at 13:31

While the Kurds have improved over the last century, let's not kid ourselves, they were the butchers of the Armenians, and took over what was left after. Modern day Kurds are of course not responsible for their forebears' deeds, so I would consider them as useful allies now, but also pretty much in tune with most of the ethnic groups in the region.

If this sounds harsh, sorry, but if we demand a recognition of responsibility from Turkey, I would expect the Kurdish authorities (and people) to do so as well if they want protection now that they're on the receiving end.

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Sala Abrahim • May 8, 2018 at 21:44

The West Betrays the Kurds

The kurds as an ethnic minority have been discriminated against throughout history and mistreated in many Middle Eastern countries.Turkey with its draconian laws against Kurdish nationalism and culture has tried to ban Kurdish language and the teaching of Kurdish in schools.The late dictator Saddam Hussien gassed the kurds in the mid-1980s. The world and namely the Western World stood by and did nothing.

The recent war against ISIS in Syria and Iraq in which the West emerged victorious thanks to the Kurdish freedom fighters and their heroic struggle against the forces of darkness and oppression, went unnoticed by Western powers and in the process, they have downplayed by their silence, sacrifices made by their allies and friends the Kurds for fear of antagonizing Turkey.This is a sad commentary on the gruesome realities of the 21st Century and an example of history repeating itself bearing in mind the European context before World War 11.

I think the Kurdish population suffering under Turkish occupation will rightly say, "With friends like these who needs enemies."

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Paolo • May 8, 2018 at 06:39

I read this article and I wonder that our so-called "leaders" can sleep at night. Their hypocrisy is breath-taking, so progressive when they talk about policy on immigration but showing real weakness when required to stand up to Turkey. Are there any real Leaders in the West or just spineless virtue-signallers?

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Remus Dacus • May 8, 2018 at 00:31

NATO or the US won't do anything for the Kurds until they discover the Kurds have something to offer them. The Kurds just want their freedom, and that doesn't necessarily help any western countries financially or militarily. The US has already invest too much time and money into Turkey and Iraq for them to support the Kurdish independence from their oppressors.

The Kurds are on their own, it seems, again as they have been for the last hundred years - regardless of their reliable support to western action in the region.

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stevenL • May 7, 2018 at 23:33

First the Armenians second the Jews and now the Kurds!

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Alan Bly • May 7, 2018 at 23:32

One of the most heartbreaking events is to see the West stand by while a psychopathic despot like Erdogan did and does to the Kurds. I have some hope that Mr. Bolton will convince the President to make his efforts against Erdogan more significant than they've been and in the end, the Kurds will get some justice.

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Seanmhar • May 7, 2018 at 20:44

The Kurds are more friendly to the U.S. and other Western nations than any other Arabs. We should acknowledge their friendship and respond in an appropriate way.

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John Lemon • May 7, 2018 at 19:29

I just don't understand why we continually support countries which hate us and those who at one time supported us and even loved us we stab them in the back. Bush Iet them down, Clinton let them down, Obama turned his back on them, and now Trump has turned his back on them. We need to support them or they will cross over to the dark side and turn against us.

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Vivienne • May 7, 2018 at 18:09

I agree with every word of this. The West claims to support democracy, yet fails to protect the only group in Syria or Iraq which has a vision of a cooperative, gender-equal future, beyond sectarianism or nationalism, and inclusive of every community.

The Turks may be cruel and barbarous, willing supporters of the Da'esh fighters whom they've trained and rebranded as part of the FSA, in order to send them to murder Kurds, but we are dishonourable hypocrites. Our staunch allies' blood is on our hands.

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June • May 7, 2018 at 17:03

When support for the Kurds was first brought up in a discussion of the situation in Syria, at a town Hall meeting called by Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the Foreign Relations committee and Congressman Jim Hines, a member of the Congressional Intelligence committee in Westport CT, there was a quick brushoff in deference to our Nato ally Turkey. These two were focused on the evil ways of the Saudi tentacles causing the ISIS menace. In retrospect, they must have known of the initial meetings with Iran and were supportive of the anti Sunni and pro Muslim Brotherhood positions of then President Obama. We are living a time when the world is confronted with very complex situations and countries agenda are fraught with blind spots. Thank you Giulio Menotti!

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Mark R. Spengler • May 7, 2018 at 15:56

The treatment of the Kurds has been appalling for decades. Who is the strongest voice in the world for justice for these fellow citizens of ours living on planet earth? Turkey is no longer the country it's modern day Founder Kemal Ataturk envisioned, but has become radicalized with an Islamist agenda.They Kurds need our support.

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dkjack • May 7, 2018 at 15:25

Here's a history lesson. The greatest figure of the Crusades was Saladin. He defeated the Franks while setting an example of chivalry which even won accolades from the Crusader knights. However, the greatest Muslim adversary of the Crusaders is not idolized by Arabs and Muslims today. Why? Because Saladin was a Kurd!

The Kurds aren't Arabs, Turks or Persians, so they are the odd-men-out in the region. Thus they are treated much like Jews. In fact, "Israelis say they feel a natural kinship with the Kurds, seeing similarities in their struggle for a homeland, against the odds." Thus it is no surprise that relations between Kurds and Israelis are genuinely cordial, Israel being a strong supporter of an independent Iraqi Kurdistan. The rest, including the United States, have betrayed the Kurds.

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Michael Fox • May 7, 2018 at 14:44

It is a travesty that the West has thrown the Kurds under the bus in favor of Turkey. History has documented generations of Turkish genocide against ethnic minorities. Ethics be damned. There are geopolitical considerations in the region that supersedes ethics....or so the brilliant minds in the US State Department along with European membersof NATO have concluded. Meanwhile, Turkey snuggles up to Russia, Iran and Syria's Assad who is responsible for the violent deaths of nearly 500,000 of his own people.

The Kurds do have more than the mountains as friends. Israel is a friend and so are many Americans who are embarrassed by our leaderships treatment of a loyal friend who has sacrificed so much and for so long.

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JB Silver • May 7, 2018 at 14:23

Israel needs to step up and help the Kurds defend themselves, or we have lost all claim to ask the world how it abandoned the Jews to their fate.

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dkjack JB Silver • May 15, 2018 at 11:24

The Kurds are surrounded by others hostile to both the them and Israel. Hence it would be dangerous for the Kurds to be seen as allies or clients or "agents" of Israel. Israel does what it can for the Kurds, but for their sake Israel must be discreet.

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tiki • May 7, 2018 at 14:21

The West betrays the Kurds?No the West betrays everybody!

It betrays the Palestinians by continuing to pay their corrupt leaders.It betrays Israel by paying/supporting corrupt Palestinian & vile Iran leaders.It betrays the refugees for promising them dreams & hot air.It betrays it's own people with their undemocratic, dictatorial EU council.

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Bisley • May 7, 2018 at 14:00

I would expect Trump to give the Kurds some help and relief in the near future. Now that he has Pompeo and Bolton at the State Dept. and NSC, both of whom recognize the great contributions of the Kurds, and the potential of more in the future, he's likely to get advice more in their favor. It's probable that he's being told he can't do anything about the Turks because of NATO (probably by Mattis), but Turkey under Erdogan is no ally, and hasn't been since they refused transit of troops and supplies, and launching of air attacks against Iraq fifteen years ago. It's eventually going to be necessary to pull out of the Incirlic airbase, and drive the Turks out of Syria, and it would be much better to do it while it's still possible to save most of the Kurds, and retain them as allies. Trump is likely to do the right thing, if he's given a proper appreciation of the situation, but there are still so many people in his administration working against him and giving bad advice that it's difficult for him to get a clear enough picture of what's happening to know how to deal with it.

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Tim • May 7, 2018 at 13:19

The West should bow our heads in shame for the apathy displayed towards such a proven ally. Action needs to be implemented for the Kurdish peoples' well being, survival and respect for the fallen.

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Paul • May 7, 2018 at 13:02

Iraqi Kurds disarmed the very new very inexperienced Christian militia before they bugged out of the Nineveh plains. These people are no saints just because they need us. They did provide sanctuary for Yazzidi and Christians but the complaint I've heard is they were/are required to become "kurdish" citizens and kurdish=muslim. No one is ever clean in the middle east. There are no deals, contracts or treaties like their are in the west because they have a different conception of honesty. Iran for example will recognize it's nuclear treaty obligation for as long as it benefits them. Any contract that does not benefit arab, persian, kurd always is automatically void. Honesty for them is something that is meted out per the "status" of the counter party. America gets none from Iran because we are the great Satan and non shia. Kurds give all because they need us. If Iraq could not form a state w/ lots of educated people is it reasonable to assume the Kurds could achieve a long lasting stable situation? Landlocked penurious and without any history of self governance to fall back on I think it unlikely. Our relationship with them is not over they have a long struggle ahead and what we are doing is frankly in accordance with the traditions of the area. It's not Czechoslovakia or Hungary it is realizing that even the inevitable has some setbacks.

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Adrianne Smyth • May 7, 2018 at 11:45

I have never been able to understand the British attitude to the Kurds. John Major betrayed them, he encouraged them to rise up against Saddam Hussein and then backtracked most disgustingly, whining that he never asked them to start a war against Saddam.Whilst the undistinguished Government's "Independent Reviewer" of Terrorism legislation positively encourages the return of those who went off to fight for ISIS, our officials seize anyone who fought against them and with the Kurds.I suppose until we get an intelligent Prime Minister instead of the wretched apology we currently have for one, nothing will change.

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Elizabeth L. • May 7, 2018 at 11:44

Abandoning the Kurds is unfortunately not a surprise. We live in a post-Christian era were Western politics is not about compassion or righteousness, but rather about what suits politicians' self-centred agendas.

Since the West has abandoned God in favour of Marx, they have kowtowed to Islam, created a mess in the ME and abandoned Christian and other minorities/cultures to the consequences of their political greed and indifference.

Much of this is borne out in western countries like Canada, refusing to give asylum to those suffering persecution but rather opening the doors to hostile Islam.

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Charles Maack • May 7, 2018 at 10:59

If any should be given refuge in our Western world they are the Kurdish people. NATO could arrange safe haven for them to be extracted from the area in which they are currently besieged and provide them refuge in whichever country of NATO they would prefer to live - and certainly including the United States of America.

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R. Wayne Fournier • May 7, 2018 at 10:57

Cannot Mr. Bolton, our newly appointed National Security Advisor, do something to help the Kurdish people? Can't he make a deal to supply them with arms to protect themselves from Erdogan's thugs?

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Bob R. Wayne Fournier • May 8, 2018 at 14:24

They need more than hand weapons they need artillery they need tanks they need armored personnel vehicles and they need air support

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John Forbes • May 7, 2018 at 10:51

Actually amazing that the Kurds believe anything the WEST SPROUTS at all after betrayal after betrayal.They have been betrayed many times over the decades by the British & now the AMERICANS after actually defeating ISIS!Then the LEFTIST IDIOTS IN THE WEST welcome the ISIS Monsters back & reward them with CASH, housing & security & these are the people who raped, tortured, killed, took sex slaves, beheaded people & burned people alive?
The WEST IS UTTERLY CRAZY & are HATED BY MANY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FOR THIS WELCOME MAT!!

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PaulM John Forbes • May 7, 2018 at 12:06

Yes, sadly you are right. Historically the West has always betrayed or completely ignored those who have helped them out. It is little wonder that some countries rely on Putin. As much as Putin is a Stalinist dictator and a cruel, dangerous human being, he (Putin) is more loyal to those who ally with him than any Western nation has every been. It is little wonder that so many people see the US as a nation of hypocrites. One can only hope that Trump can clean the swamp and do something tangible for the honourable, loyal Kurds.

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Luis A. Recinos • May 7, 2018 at 10:36

I read this and I cannot believe it. But, alas, it is true. ¡What a shame! ¿What is wrong with the West? No need to answer...we already know.Thanks to Mr. Meotti for his insightful analysis of this and other issues.

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Alan • May 7, 2018 at 10:24

This story brings a feeling of deep sadness. I sure hope that President Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo snap out of their apathy and help the Kurds, our true allies in the Mideast.

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RICHARD MCNEIL • May 7, 2018 at 09:20

One who betrays allies soon has no allies. NATO has made itself a fragile shell, its former might sacrificed on the European altar of social welfare. America has spread itself too thin while aligning with Europe on that same kind of social spending (to the detriment of all else) and our "friends" when we are in need, get only the back of our hands when the dangers have passed. I wonder, is Israel watching?

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Jonathan Simon • May 7, 2018 at 08:20

There is no greater shame than the West's betrayal of the Kurds. One day we shall pay the price for that unforgivable betrayal.

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Joseph Marmor Jonathan Simon • May 7, 2018 at 12:38

If there is one people who deserve an independent state it is the Kurds. There are over 35 million but are ruled by foreigners. Yet the west supports a fake people called Palestinians who bring nothing but terror to the lands they touch. Boris Johnson defends the Turks as having a right to defend their borders but when Israel defends its borders they is an outcry.

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barry • May 7, 2018 at 08:08

While I haven't entirely forgotten the Kurdish role in helping the Ottoman massacre of Armenians about 100 years ago, the current US betrayal of Kurdish interest is disgraceful, especially as it seems to be fully bipartisan with little dissent. This abandonment of decent allies feeds cynicism and undermines efforts to build a better world. It's also ironic that Iraqis benefiting from suppressing the Kurds are allies of Iran. Sad!

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Keith Thomas • May 7, 2018 at 08:02

Issues are rarely clear-cut. Here in the UK we can't help noticing that Kurdish men figure among the more vicious and exploitative end of the Muslim grooming and abuse gangs operating here.

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Jeff Page Keith Thomas • May 15, 2018 at 10:07

I think you will find that the Muslim grooming gangs are mainly made up of Pakistani Muslims, Keith. There are a few others involved, but the majority by far are Pakistanis.

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Jerker • May 7, 2018 at 07:58

The PKK betrayed the Kurds as well. I think it is time for the Kurds to integrate wherever they are - not just in the Middle East. A marxist terror group never made anything better.

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Jeff Page • May 7, 2018 at 07:29

Being British, I am ashamed of my government for their betrayal of the Kurds. This is because they don't want to oppose Turkey, but more importantly, the EU who want Turkey to join their ill-fated club. Silence is the order of the day whenever Islamists are involved. The Kurds are entirely different in their outlook and have respect and tolerance for other religions. More than can be said for Turkey and its maniac leader Erdogan, who the EU has targeted as the saviour that will pay into the corrupt club, and save their bacon! All I can do is email my MP and show my disgust at the way the Kurds have been treated, but I know that he won't even acknowledge receiving it. British politicians are cowards, they have caved into Islam and deny that Muslims are a problem to our society. Apparently, the majority of people know, but the politicians pretend they don't see any problems. Fear is the key! Their fear is destroying our society little by little. Betraying the Kurds is just a part of the overall betrayal of their own people. Just an example of how bad it is in Britain, our cowardly PM has made a Muslim Home Secretary! As a country, we are now doomed!

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chahn • May 7, 2018 at 07:09

This is Heart Breaking. The Kurds are a great people. They have rights too!

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Albert Reingewirtz • May 7, 2018 at 06:32

A simple answer is this: Turkey out of NATO now! Then to make it right, finally. Kurdistan from Turkey to Iran, now!

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EDWARD SARAFIAN Albert Reingewirtz • May 7, 2018 at 13:17

The real betrayal by the West was when they failed to honour their promise to hold genocidal Turkey's feet to the fire for their horrendous genocide of the Armenian nation, the real autochthonous people of what is now called Turkey, thus wiping out a 10,000-15,000 continuous civilization on the Armenian Highlands, now illegally occupied by the Turkish usurpers and genociders, in which the Kurds willingly participated along with their masters the Turks who had promises the kURDS the Armenian lands.The Kurds came north and west from Iran, Iraq and Syria into what is now being called Turkey, but was actually historically and until the 14th century, Armenia.

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